About Me

An enthusiastic teacher turned librarian, I have a diverse background and broad interests. While primarily working with web technology, I have interests in general computing and technology, instruction, accessibility, information management, technical services and metadata, among others.

I am always on the look out to improve existing services and implement new ones. While not a programmer, I like to learn and I am not afraid to work with code. My methodology is very much user oriented in all my projects and work (at least as much as possible), and my aim is to improve the user experience for both the end-user and content creators.

Through the local library association, I mentor as part of the BCLA Mentorship program, which is a one-on-one professional mentorship program, mostly helping students and younger professionals with their applications, interviews, and professional development.

I am also a proud mentor as part of Canada Learning Code (formerly, Ladies Learning Code), a non-profit that holds technology workshops. Mostly, I volunteer for HTML/CSS, web design, WordPress, and Teachers Learning Code, but also Photoshop and Hack-a-thon workshops.

Last but not least, I help with organizing conferences and workshops whenever and wherever I can (see the list below).

You can follow me on twitter or find me elsewhere through about.me.

Current Employment

As I have moved to Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island, I am currently freelancing and consulting, doing contract work in various areas, including

web services,
user experience,
accessibility,
metadata and technical services,
automation and workflow,
documentation and technical writing,
and project management.

Recent Employment

Manager of Technology and Technical Services at the New Westminster Public Library (2016 – 2018)
- Oversaw day-to-day operations in technical services, technology, and assist in other areas.
- Managed acquisitions for library collections including e-resources.
- Managed vendor relationships and contracts related to technology, technical services, and acquisitions.
- Ensured cataloguing and classification of materials balanced industry standards with the needs of library users.
- Managed public facing technology overall.
- Liaised with City IT staff regarding technology used in the library.
- Made recommendations to the Leadership Team regarding the need for emerging hardware, software, and technology services for the public.
- Managed and administered the library’s integrated library system.
- Coordinated and managed reports and statistics relating to technology and technical services, or originating from the ILS.
Content Coordinator, for the National Network of Equitable Library Service at the BC Libraries Cooperative (2014 – 2016)
- Coordinated (and improved) the content processes and production of accessible formats, including copyright clearance.
- Assisted with negotiating licenses and purchases for existing collections of accessible content.
- Assisted with making partnerships with other accessible content producers to share collections and resources.
- Assisted with CMS administration and web development as needed.
- Managed metadata, cataloguing, and ingestion of produced and contributed titles and collections.
- Trained staff, both in-person and at a distance, and provided resources on producing accessible formats, and managing content in NNELS.
- Researched answers to legal questions in regards to accessible format production and distribution.
- Supervised students and contract workers assisting with production.
Web Accessibility Consultant, for Support Students with Disabilities website at Justice Institute of British Columbia (JISC) (2016)
- Worked with staff to ensure accessibility guidelines are met.
- Provided reports and possible solutions to accessibility issues.
- Provided training and resources on accessibility, particularly creating content and documents.
Accessibility Librarian, at CAPER-BC (formerly, CILS) housed at Langara College (2013 – 2014)
- Developed and maintained new website (WordPress) (to reflect name change), doing usability work, and ensuring accessibility guidelines are met.
- Migrated (to Confluence) and reorganized wiki used for intranet.
- Automated backup of digital collection files that are created during production.
- Catalogued and processed new materials and requests.
- Provided IT and technology support to staff and clients as needed.
- Wrote department newsletters sent out to students and coordinators.
- Documented processes and workflow.
- Ran and analyzed statistics and web analytics.
- Ran and wrote SQL queries for reporting purposes.
- Backup supervisor of staff.
Web Services (previously, Innovative Technologies) Librarian at Ryerson University Library & Archives (RULA) (2012 – 2013)
- Implemented content management system (WordPress)
- Implemented issue tracker (Redmine) in conjunction with intranet (Drupal)
- Created and revised web content to meet web accessibility guidelines (WCAG)
- Managed and pushed out shelf mapping tool (RULA Bookfinder)
- Provided instructional workshops, reference desk (including chat), library tours, and more
Other professional experience includes website redesign/development, user studies/user experience, collaborative software (namely wiki), information management, research, planning, reference, and instruction.
Other previous experience include teaching, research support, tutoring, office/clerical support, and customer service.

Recent Volunteering

Volunteer Mentor, Canada Learning Code (previously, Ladies Learning Code) various workshops including HTML & CSS, Web Design , WordPress, Hack sessions (2012 – Present)
Mentor, BCLA Mentorship Program (2013 – Present)
Organizer, Code4LibBC (2013 – Present)
Mentor, UBC Online Career Mentor (via Ten Thousand Coffees) (2018 – Present)
Program Committee, Code4Lib Conference (2015, 2017, 2018)
Program Peer Reviewer, Access Conference (2012 – 2017)
Mentor, UBC Arts Co-op Student Association Mentorship Program (2015 – 2016)
Facilitator (one of many) of Accessibility & Ability discussion in the Join! Types of diversity and inclusion session, Mozilla Festival (October 2014)

Recent Presentations & Articles

Code4LibBC 2017 (December 2017): Code4lib(BC): What It’s All About
Weave Journal of Library User Experience, Issue 7 (October 2017): A Practical Guide to Improving Web Accessibility
University of British Columbia, School of Library, Archives, and Information Studies, ePortfolio video
Education Institution (September 2017 webinar): Reviewing and Improving Workflow and Productivity
Code4Lib Journal, Issue 37 (July 2017): A Practical Starter Guide on Developing Accessible Websites
Florida Library Webinars (March 2017): Reviewing and Improving Workflow and Productivity: Methods and Tools
Code4LibBC 2016 (December 2016): Getting Things Done: Discovering Efficiencies in Workflow
Florida Library Webinars (May 2016): Making Accessible Content Easy and Part of Your Work
Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) (March 2016): Making Accessible Content Easy and Part of Your Work
University of Pittsburgh (March 2016 webinar): Making Accessible Content Easy and Part of Your Work
Code4LibBC 2015: Semi-Automated Editing Metadata and MARC Records
BCLA Perspectives Vol. 7 Issue 1 (November 2015): Code4Lib is for you, for me, for everyone
LIBR 2411: Library Technologies and Information Management at Langara College (October 2015 guest lecture): Accessibility is About Your Users
The Pastry Box Project October 1, 2015: Better Than Christmas Morning: Finding Your Motivation
The Pastry Box Project September 21, 2015: A Community Supported on Obsolete Technology
University of Pittsburgh (February 2015 webinar): Making Accessible Content Easy and Part of Your Work
Education Institution (January 2015 webinar): Making Web Services Accessible With Universal Design
Education Institution (January 2015 webinar): Remix the Web! Using Mozilla Webmaker for Library Workshops & Programming
Access 2014 (October 2014): We’re All Disabled! Part 2: Building Accessible (Web) Services with Universal Design
LibUX Podcast (September 2014): Episode 14 on Accessibility
Previous presentations and articles cover accessibility, web technology, library services, online tools, and jobs.

Education

I finished my Master’s in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) at the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies (SLAIS) in December 2011 and graduated in May 2012.

Previously, I completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology, then Education, but began as a student in Software Engineering and Mathematics (at what is now SFU Surrey, but used to be TechBC).

Current Professional Affiliations

Member of, volunteer at, and organizer of various events relating to Code4Lib including Code4libBC and founder of Code4libToronto (2010 – Present)
Member of BCLA (2009 – Present)
Member of Golden Key International Honour Society (since 2002)

Recent Work Articles

Work at New Westminster Public Library (2016 – 2018)

At NWPL, my work diversified and started taking different routes. A lot of process and workflow work came about, as well as Horizon work, especially involving SQL.

Workflow

Discovering Workflow Efficiencies (Code4libBC Presentation)
Reviewing and Improving Workflow (Webinar Presentation)
Benefits and Rationale of Doing a Workflow Review

Horizon

Other

Job Application Tips from a Manager

Work on the National Network for Equitable Library Services at BC Libraries Cooperative (2014 – 2016)

A lot of my work at NNELS was focused on metadata and accessible format production, though other things crept in.

Accessible Formats

Accessible Formats Overview
Making Accessible Format Production: Overview, Part 1 & Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
DAISY Production in the Near Future
Recording Audiobooks with Audacity
Zipping for Distribution

Scripting

Batch Appending a Single PDF to Multiple PDFs

MARC/MarcEdit

Website

Work Projects at CILS/CAPER-BC (2013 – 2014)

Most of the year was spent working on the website (involving WordPress) and research, along with some other smaller projects.